European Car News

Roadsters aren’t the big-volume players in BMW’s line-up, but this genre has thrown up some of the Bavarian marque’s most iconic models over the years, dating back to the timeless 328 (1936-40) and sublime 507 (1956-59). In more recent times, we’ve had the offbeat Z1 (with its unusual vertically sliding doors) and the beautiful Z8 that served as James Bond’s ride in the 1999 blockbuster The World is Not Enough.

The G-Wagen finally got its first ever major revamp since it debuted in the late 70s. Sure, there have been numerous facelifts, interiors and engine upgrades over the years, the basics underneath always remained the same, and it was horrendous to drive (once you take off the fanboy glasses). The new 2019 model changes all that. Mostly.

The Cullinan is a big deal for Rolls-Royce. And you know the new SUV is important to our region when the model hits UAE roads within weeks of the international drive event in the United States. While we weren’t invited to that U.S. one, we did get to try out the British carmaker’s first offroader in Dubai, if only on a strictly onroad drive.

Remember the BMW 8-Series? A large, eye-catching coupe built from 1990-99, it was in many ways a pioneer for the Bavarian brand. Apart from the low-volume M1 sold in the early-’80s, the 8-Series is the only BeeEm to date with pop-up headlights, and its other claims to fame include being the Bavarian brand’s only V12 model to be offered with a six-speed manual gearbox. What’s more, it was one of the company’s first vehicles to feature a multilink rear axle.

The McLaren F1 is revered to be one of the best, if not the best supercar the world has ever seen. Even though the British brand churned out many supercars and some hyper cars, none of them had been even remotely considered to be a successor to the legendary F1, although there is a new model that will attempt to do so yet again.

BMW came up with the new-generation X5 SUV last June. Now they’ve modernised the lineup by electrifying the X5. The BMW X5 xDrive45e comes in as a replacement for the xDrive40e X5 model that was already offered.

The Audi R8 comes with an aggressive facelift for 2019, and importantly, the same naturally aspirated 5.2-litre V10 under its hood rather than a turbo-V6. And to much delight, it also comes with a boost in power.